Apple Hits Samsung with New Smartphone Lawsuit in Germany

Apple has filed yet another lawsuit against Samsung, this time targeting ten of the company’s smartphones such as the Galaxy S Plus and Galaxy S II. The iPhone and iPad maker filed the case in Dusseldorf Germany — a court that’s already dealing with Apple and Samsung patent infringement lawsuits.

Apple slaps Samsung with another infringement lawsuit

Instead of targeting technical patents this time, Apple is claiming Samsung is stealing the iPhone design for its own smartphones, according to Bloomberg. Apple is targeting Samsung tablet designs in a separate German lawsuit.

Apple and Samsung have been locked in a legal battle over patent infringement claims for several months. Both companies have alleged that the other’s mobile devices use patented technologies without proper licensing, and have filed lawsuits against each other in the U.S. and other countries.

Apple managed to win an import ban in the country for the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in December, but Samsung may have found a way to work around the block with its slightly modified Galaxy Tab 10.1N. Apple, however, isn’t satisfied with the changes and is hoping to block the revised model — a move that will likely fail, according to the judge overseeing the case.

“Consumers are well aware that there is an original and that competitors try to use similar designs, so buyers are vigilant when looking at products,” said Judge Johanna Brueckner-Hofmann. “We don’t think that someone buys a Samsung [tablet] to make his table neighbor at the coffee house believe he owns an iPad.”